Sometime, I Can Be "Sappy"

Many of you who know me well, I am not a huge fan of PDA, sentimental or a "touchy" person. But when it comes to Valentine's Day, all of those walls seem to melt away and I thoroughly enjoy the flowers, cards, treats, balloons and the pink and red that seems to vomit in every store around this time of year.

Photo by Kayla J Photography

We were such babies!!!!!

Photo by Kayla J Photography

When I asked Tony, “What do you think makes our marriage successful on a daily basis?” He responded, “You do whatever you want, go wherever you want and buy whatever you want…and I let you”….. We both looked at each other and shared a good laugh. In all seriousness, being that I am one who is constantly looking for ways for me to learn new skills and grow them, grow spiritually, indulge in self care and grow my wardrobe and ways to share experiences with my family and friends, I continue to realize how blessed I am to have Tony as my husband because he does give me the support to do things I want to do and accomplish.

Tony and I will be celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary this upcoming June and I know this will be cliché to say, but it feels like we were just in our young 20s yesterday, saying our “I Dos”. With Valentine’s Day coming upon us and everyone rushing to buy flowers, gifts and candy (so, Valentines Day really is a retail holiday), I began to think, what does Tony and I do on a DAILY basis that makes us live cohesively together and value and respect each other? 

Marriage is hard. Marriage is a commitment. Marriage is one big, fat platform of constant communication.  Valentines Day for Tony and I is not buying each other gifts, flowers or cards….it is a time for us to dress up and go to a nice dinner and connect. 

Here are a few things that we do on a DAILY basis that keeps us going in this life-long lesson of marriage.

1.       Put events or planned things on our shared calendar on our I-Phones. I know this is something small, however when life gets busy, and we have separate or shared things we want to plan, placing it on the “calendar” withdraws any chance of arguments when events are not communicated. 

2.       Text throughout the day and simply ask “how are you doing?” This is something can be easily taken for granted or not done at all…but it gives me some sort of self-worth knowing that Tony takes time out of his busy schedule at work to send me a quick text and vice versa.

3.        We share responsibilities during our after-work routine. I will prepare dinner and Tony will do the cleaning. This gives us more time in the evening to spend together and with more time with Donovan.

4.       We make a conscious effort to affirm and acknowledge each other’s feelings and acts of service. This was something that was not easy or natural for us to do. Over the last couple of years, we have really built this muscle for us to make it a more natural and this has not only validated us but gave us some sort of worth and love.

5.       We call each other on the way home from work. This is something we do every single day since we got married. Honestly, if we do not do this, it does not really complete our day.

There are more things that we do throughout the day, but these are the main things that we are very consistent with. Valentine’s Day is one of MY FAVORITE DAY! Enjoy today, love those closest to you and eat chocolate!

XOXO

Tiff